Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

BARRON, Bill and Kenny

Brothers from Philadelphia, both composers active in the NYC jazz scene and in education. Bill (b 27 March 1927; d 21 September 1989) played tenor sax and sounded as though he were influenced by John Coltrane; but he worked as a co-leader in the '60s with Ted Curson, who said that Bill was sounding like that when Coltrane was still playing alto. Bill made five albums as a leader on Savoy and Dauntless '61-3 (three including Curson), spent much of the '60s in Sweden; then another album on Savoy '72, Jazz Caper '78, Variation In Blue '83 and The Next Plateau '87 all on Muse. Bill taught at Wesleyan; all his recordings had excellent lineups and all included Kenny on piano (b 9 June 1943). Kenny began working with his brother in an R&B band, first recording as a leader on Muse '73, the same year he began teaching at Rutgers. Of six albums for Muse, In Tandem '75 was made at Rutgers, a duo with guitarist Ted Dunbar, and the latest was a quintet set, Golden Lotus '80. Green Chimneys '83 on Criss Cross is a trio set with Buster Williams and Ben Riley, New York Attitude '84 on Uptown (formerly called Autumn In New York) with Rufus Reid and Freddie Waits. Of two albums made in Japan '82, Spiral on Baybridge was a solo set; his other solo sets are At The Piano '81 on Xanadu, and Volume Ten in the valuable Concord Jazz series Live At Maybeck Recital Hall '90. He toured with Stan Getz late in Getz's career, formed the quartet Sphere with Charlie Rouse, Buster Williams and Ben Riley (three albums on Red Records included Live At Umbria Jazz Festival '86, and duo Two As One with bassist Williams was also made there); he co-led quartet date Rhythm-A-Ning with John Hicks on Candid, and with Red Mitchell as The Red Barron Duo on Storyville. In the '90s his stature continued to grow: there have been three Barron albums on Enja, one on Lime Tree and others on Verve, all with different lineups: Wanton Spirit '95 was a trio; Swamp Sally '96 was a duo with percussionist Mino Cinelu (synths and funk); quintet Things Unseen '97 included Eddie Henderson on trumpet, John Stubblefield on tenor (b 4 February 1945, Little Rock AR; d 4 July 2005 of prostate cancer in the Bronx NY: Subblefield was also a highly regarded educator). Kenny Barron played on Keith Copeland's debut as a leader On Target '93 on JazzMania; he has made over 50 albums as a sideman. The music students at Rutgers had an experienced teacher.